


But It's The Words That Count.

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels), valuna



Series: Novel Approach [5]
Category: British Actor RPF, Dracula 2000 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-04-01
Updated: 2005-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-03 06:19:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels, https://archiveofourown.org/users/valuna/pseuds/valuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A book signing in the States turns into talking about sex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But It's The Words That Count.

Jonny glances out over the room. The line is stretched around the store. Good for sales, but damned bad for his disposition, which wasn't the best to begin with, hating these things, and his patience, which is wearing thinner by the minute.

He signs another copy of the new novel, smiles and scribbles a note on the pad at his side -- _You owe me. A weekend wasn't bribery enough for this._ \-- and passes it over his shoulder to Gerry, who's standing against the bookshelf.

Gerry was having a lovely time just staring at the crowd. He grins when he gets the note and leans in down to whisper in Jonny's ear. "Your loss, for being such a pushover." He looks up and smiles at the next person in line.

"You're a bastard," Jonny murmurs, turning his head to glance at Gerry while he signs his name and some inane salutation. "Later, you're going to pay."

"Probably," Gerry agrees. He ruffles Jonny's hair and stands up again. He flips through one of the books on the table and tries to look bored.

The signing goes on and on and it seems forever till the allotted time's passed, and there are still people in line. Jonny keeps smiling, though it's weak now and a bit fake. _Why did I to be so popular?_ A half-hour later and the store clerk's issuing raincheques for the book, and Jonny's promising to sign cards to go in all of them. He looks over at Gerry, who's still trying to look occupied and bored. _Oh, you are definitely paying for this._

Gerry isn't bored. He's rereading his favourite sections out of Jonny's books, shaking his head as he notices something that he should have caught earlier. But it's time to wrap up, and Gerry puts the book on the table. "Exhausted?"

"Beyond it." Jonny pushes his chair back, stands and stretches, the tails of his button-down shirt pulling out of his jeans. "You try writing your name for nearly three hours." He flexes his fingers, shakes out his wrist. "Cramped up."

"Here, let me." Gerry takes Jonny's hand in his and starts massaging it. "I'll take you out for dinner, or just get you take-out, and handfeed you. Would that sound better?"

"Hmm, that feels good." Jonny closes his eyes for a second, breathes in and out. "Handfeeding sounds perfect."

"Good lad." Gerry rubs over Jonny's knuckles. "Chinese?"

"Chinese. Yeah." Jonny's lost in Gerry's voice, his touch. He could care less what food they have. He's just wanting to relax.

"Chinese," Gerry repeats. He moves across Jonny's palm. "And then you can moisterurize and rest up for tomorrow." He smiles. "You should learn how to write with your left hand, Jonny."

Jonny's eyes are open now and he's glaring. "You shouldn't schedule signings two days in a row, Mr. Butler." He rolls his neck. "Get me out of here. Now."

"Yes, Mr. Miller." Gerry bows. "Your wish is my command, Mr. Miller."

Reaching down, Jonny grabs his backpack from beside the chair. He thanks the clerks with a tired sincerity and makes for the door, assuming Gerry will follow him. He just needs to be out in the fresh air for a moment.

Gerry grabs the extra pens and shoves them in his pocket before he leaves. They'll need them tomorrow in St. Paul. Once he's outside, he takes a deep breath of fresh air, almost drinking it in. _Amazing._

"Okay, this is _much_ better." Jonny's standing on the sidewalk, taking in deep breaths of the slightly smoggy Minneapolis air. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm not a bit claustrophobic," he says as Gerry steps up beside him. "Or maybe it's just dealing with all the people."

"I think maybe you're tired." Gerry pulls a pack out of his pocket and lights a cigarette. He takes a drag on it and exhales. Fuck, that feels good.

"Oh, don't know why I'd be tired." Jonny grabs the cigarette pack before Gerry can stash it, pulls out one for himself. "New York. Philadelphia. Chicago." He pauses. "This is Minneapolis. Right?"

"That's what they tell me." Gerry lights Jonny's cigarette. "You're a very popular lad."

"It's the book they like, not me. I just spin a good tale." Jonny sucks in that first drag, lets it sift into his brain. "You said something about food. Which way is hotel from here?"

Gerry points to the east. "Ten minute walk."

"Okay, let's go." Jonny shrugs the pack more snugly over his shoulder and sets off that way. "What are the chances we'll pass that takeaway place?"

"We could walk by it if we want to." Gerry'd taken a peak of a map before leaving the hotel room that morning. "Pick up something."

"Let's do that. Less reason to have to go back out tonight. I'm in a mood to collapse, slide into bed and be handfed."

"Yes, dear." Gerry leads Jonny down a different street. "What do you want?"

"Mongolian beef, if they've got it," Jonny says. He's following a half-step behind Gerry, relaxing into the cigarette's smoke. "And fried dumplings. And lots of duck sauce."

That last was predictable. "We can do that." They're coming up on the store now. "Fortune cookie?"

"Of course. What's takeaway without the fortune?" Jonny finishes the last drag and drops the cigarette to the sidewalk, grinding it under his sneaker. "Chopsticks, too. Don't forget them."

"As if I would." Gerry snorts. "Not like I know how to use them."

"I'll show you." They're outside the restaurant now and Jonny steps around Gerry, opens the door. "It's all in the fingers, learning when to move and not."

"You could say that about a lot of things," Gerry mutters. He steps into the store and lets the door close behind him.

Jonny shakes his head. They're back to innuendo. It's delicious, how they can banter, one of the pure joys of their relationship. He stands off to the side, lets Gerry order while he pulls out his mobile, checks for messages.

Gerry orders quickly, and gets a few cans of coke as well. He knows Jonny. Jonny's a hyper one and he needs his caffeine. Then he stands off to the side and waits for the food to be ready.

"Margaret called," Jonny says, toggling the phone off. "Wants to make sure we're being nice and not killing each other." He smiles. "Do we have a reputation already?"

"Yeah, think we do. Dark, dangerous." Gerry winks at him. "Hands around each other's throats."

"I don't think we've tried that." Jonny cocks his head, gives a bit of smirk with the grin. "Or did I sleep through something?"

"One of our arguments? Probably." Gerry puts his hands into his pockets. "I mean, since they're so repetitive."

"They are? I thought we varied a little. Sometimes it's _that_ and sometimes it's _which_." Jonny stuff his mobile back into his pack. "We could argue about what side of the bed you get."

"Left side," Gerry says immediately. "I always get the left."

"Of course. Pardon me." Jonny nods towards the counter. "Order's up." He moves forward and grabs a handful of sauces, dropping them into the paper bag the woman's set on the counter. "What if the left side's against the wall? Still want it?"

"Hm. No." Gerry takes out his wallet. "Then I get the right."

Jonny smiles, picks up the bag and steps back while Gerry pays. It's not until they're back out on the sidewalk that he picks up on the conversation thread. "You realize a psychologist would say that means you don't like being trapped," he says, "switching sides just to avoid the wall."

"Yeah, a psychologist would say that." Gerry rummages through the bag until he finds a fortune cookie. He unwraps it and opens it. He laughs at the fortune. "'You will come across a great opportunity.' Vague beyond belief."

"You're supposed to add 'in bed' to your fortune." Jonny grins. "Pull me out one."

"Ooh, yes, forgot that." Gerry rereads it and smirks. "A great opportunity in bed. I wonder what that would be." He gives one to Jonny.

Jonny juggles the bag in his arms enough to get his fingers on the cookie, crack it open. He laughs. "Oh, this is good. Pursue your wishes aggressively," he reads, "in bed."

Gerry laughs. "That's hilarious." He runs his fingers up Jonny's arm. "And going to come true as soon as I get you in bed."

"Guess we got each other's cookies." Jonny can't help but shiver at the touch. Gerry does that. A little more each day. "It'd be rude to run back to the hotel, wouldn't it? And kinda stupid, considering I'd most likely drop dinner."

"Yeah." Gerry takes the bag from Jonny's hand. "So, you want to be the aggressive one this time? It was your fortune, after all."

"It said pursue your wishes aggressively. What if my wish is for you to be aggressive? Try a little pain?"

"Pain?" Gerry looks at Jonny. "Beyond papercuts, you mean?"

"Like in giving it? You spanked me, and seemed to enjoy it." Jonny's being brave, venturing out in asking things he's been curious about. "Any interest in doing more?"

Gerry shrugs. "Depends on what more is." He'll spank Jonny again. No problem. But Gerry wants to be sure that Jonny isn't asking him to really hurt him.

"Not sure. Just curious. I liked being spanked more than I thought I would." Jonny kicks at the sidewalk. "You ever do more than that? Slide down the S&amp;M route?"

"Not really." Gerry steers Jonny down the block towards the hotel.

"Hmm. Ever want to?" Jonny makes the turn, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Not really." Gerry shrugs. "I was never interested in going there."

"Okay." Jonny shrugs. It was worth asking the question. "Where are you interested in going?"

"I don't have a roadmap in my head." Gerry reaches the hotel first and opens the door for Jonny. "Where do you want to go?"

"Always been one who wanted to explore things. Curious even as a child." Jonny walks through the door into the lobby. "Bad habit."

"Good habit," Gerry corrects. "It's gotten you a new best seller."

They reach the elevator and Jonny presses the Up button. "Where's it get me with you?"

"Whatever you want." Gerry fishes another cookie out of the bag. "Within reason."

"Okay, so what's within reason? I want you to spank me and talk dirty, that's okay? More isn't?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Gerry breaks open the cookies. "Okay, this one doesn't work. 'Tomorrow is a new chance.'"

"Tomorrow's not a new chance in bed? I think it would be." The elevator doors open and Jonny steps out into the hallway, pulling his keycard from his backpack's front pocket as he makes the way to the suite. "Okay, not into pain. How about tieing guys up?"

"Yeah, that I'll do." Gerry grins. "Tie you up and tickle you."

"That's a start. Tickling can lead to all sorts of fun." Jonny reaches the door first and opens it. He leaves it open, walking on in and tossing his backpack onto the living area's couch. "Bedroom? Or out here?"

"Dinner?" Gerry puts the bag on the table. "Out here."

"Okay. I'm gonna get comfortable first." Jonny walks into the bedroom. "Tired of jeans and this shirt. Want some sweats," he shouts back. "Go ahead and spread it out if you want."

"Can do." _Don't need to bother getting dressed again._ Gerry grins, shakes his head, and then gets everything out. There's more than enough napkins, so he piles them up in the middle. They'll probably need them later.

Jonny finds what he's looking for, coming back out in loose sweats and a t-shirt that's almost too small. He pads barefoot across the carpet. "You're still feeding me, right?"

"If you want me to." Gerry looks Jonny over and licks his lips. He could easily eat Jonny. "But I think you're strong enough to lift fork to mouth."

"You are absolutely no fun whatsoever." Jonny plops down on the floor beside the table, grabs his take-away carton and a pair of chopsticks, leaning back against the couch. "Should know better than to trust an editor."

"That's not what you said last night." Gerry smirks. "I think was something along the lines of," he pitches his voice an octave higher than normal, "'please, fuck me, Gerry, please, please! I need you!'"

"I was delusional." Jonny glares, but it doesn't hold, sliding into a mock-frown. "Rest assured you won't hear it tonight."

"Aww." Gerry reaches over and fluffs Jonny's hair. "And I was so hoping to get an encore. Oh well. I'll just have to try my other illicit lover." He pauses. "Damn, don't have one. I'll just have to stick with you, then."

"Lucky me." Jonny leans over against Gerry's shoulder. "I'm illicit? We could put that on the next dust jacket, maybe sell a few more books."

"What, that you shag your editor?" Gerry grins. "Somehow, I don't think that would help sales."

"In San Francisco, it would." Jonny jabs his chopsticks into the Mongolian beef and shoves a mix of beef and scallions into his mouth. "Just not in Oklahoma," he mutters through chewing. He swallows. "Is there anything about you that's kinky?"

"I thought being gay was kinky enough for you." Gerry starts in on the rice. "But, yeah, like I said, if you want it hard, I'll give it to you hard."

"Nah. Gay's just what I am. Kinky's the untapped resource." Jonny leans over, grabs a dumpling from the pan and drags it through the pile of duck sauce.

Gerry takes a dumpling before Jonny can get all of them. "So tell me about that. Tell me what you see in it." He smirks. "Tell, not show."

"Tell you what? How I want to be kinky?" Sauce drips on Jonny's chin as he crams the dumpling into his mouth.

Gerry passes Jonny a napkin. "Yeah. But don't chew with your mouth open."

Jonny chews and swallows, then wipes his mouth with the napkin. "Yes, sir. Okay, that's a kink. Respect, calling you 'sir'. Then there's the spanking. Well, yeah, of course, that's a definite one. Being actually locked into cuffs and maybe using a belt." He glances at Gerry, making sure he's not losing him totally.

Gerry nods. All of that, he can deal with. "Okay. What else?"

"There's a whole gamut of things. Maybe I should've grabbed a copy of 'Joy of Sex' while we were at the bookstore." Jonny grins. "Uh, let me think." He bites the corner of his lip. "Cock rings. Ever use one of those?"

"Uh." Gerry blushes. "Yeah. Once." He grabs another dumpling. "Interesting results."

The blush intrigues Jonny. He turns, crossing his legs under him, sitting up on his knees. "Okay, spill. With a look like that, you have to tell."

"Uh uh." Gerry shakes his head. He pulls out the beef and broccoli carton and starts eating quickly from it. Jonny can't ask him something when he's swallowing, right?

Oh, yes, he can. "Ever been shagged with one on? Or done it to a bloke?"

Gerry manages to get the napkin to his face before he spits out what he has in his mouth. "I'm eating!"

Jonny just grins and goes back to stuffing his mouth with beef and scallions, mixing in a bit of rice every so often. "You let me know when you're finished," he says between bites, "and we'll get back to the kink."

Gerry flips Jonny off in between bites. Damn the man. Gerry purposely slows down. Eat slow and delay the inevitable.

_Oh, you didn't? No._ Jonny sets his carton down and moves to straddle Gerry's legs. "Don't want to talk about kink. That's fine. I'll just amuse myself." He rubs his hands over Gerry's shirt.

"I'm eating!" Gerry swats Jonny's hands away. "Eating. Food in mouth!"

Jonny puts one hand back on Gerry's shirt. Just places it there, not moving. He stares at Gerry, grinning. "Keep eating. I promise I'll be good." He squirms down against Gerry's legs, spreading into a comfortable position, knees on either side of Gerry's thighs.

"Bastard," Gerry mutters, but he keeps eating. Damn Jonny for being irresistible.

"Bastard you want to shag," Jonny counters. He moves his hand slowly, up over the exposed flesh at Gerry's neck. "Fuck into the floor till he's screaming, till you have him begging to come."

"Well, yeah," Gerry concedes. He puts down his fork and wraps his arms around Jonny. "More of that?"

Victory. It's a wonderful thing. "Yes, sir, more of that." Jonny wriggles a bit closer, still straddling Gerry's hips. "You could fuck me till I have no voice, then I can't complain during tomorrow's signing."

"No, but then you won't be able to thank people for coming." Gerry nibbles on Jonny's bottom lip and then pulls it out.

That hurts ever so right. "Can I negotiate for a sore throat?" Jonny asks when Gerry lets so. His lip's sore, but he doesn't mind at all. He's just enjoying the moment.

"No," Gerry whispers, and then he's kissing Jonny hard. Just how he likes it.

There are battles to fight and ones to walk away from. This is the second kind. Jonny gives in, pushing into the kiss, letting Gerry make it harder and deeper as he wills. _Oh, hell, this is good._ He runs his hands, both of them on Gerry's shirt now, up around his editor's -- no, correct that, lover -- neck.

This is better than Chinese food. Gerry pulls back and rubs his cheek against Jonny. "So nice," he murmurs. "You fit so well."

"I think so." Jonny likes the fit, too. Snug, familiar, comfortable. "You want to migrate to the bed?"

"Migrate?" Good word. No wonder Jonny's a writer. "Sure." Gerry kisses Jonny's nose. "Let's migrate over."


End file.
